Costa Rica in June, What should I expect?

[aymanme]

I'll be traveling to Costa Rica in June. I'll be staying at The Sanctuary. I have found nothing about this place, but I gathered it is close to a town called Marbella. I searched and found the normal opinions on outfits in the area, but curious if 1) anyone has any recent information 2) What is there in the area for my pregnant wife to do (she would normally dive)?
thanks

 

[mwrager]

Hello, I was in Costa Rica in June of 2004, Loved the above ground sights. Now for the diving, I did 10 dives while I was down there and spent 10 days there. The surge was 5 to 10 feet, the vis was 25 feet max and the dive shops were happy with that visibility. If you are looking for a reef to dive on, I did not see one, but they do have some very big fish and even bigger sharks. I got a very nice picture of a Black Tip Shark, I think he was around 8 to 9 feet long. I loved the turtles, seen a sea snake. The water Temps were 82 deg and the air temps were in the mid 80’s. If I went again I would try the Atlantic side. It reminded me of Diving in California but the water temps were in the mid 80’s.

Try and make it to Tamerindo (sp) at night. That was cool. The food was great all over Costa Rica. As for you Wife, I am sorry. I went with a local friend, when diving she shopped.

 

[Jim Baldwin]

Agree with the other poster.
Dove Costa Rica in June last year. Spent a week at Ocatoal resort and had lots of surge, low vis of 15 -30 feet. Lots and lots of pufferfish and eels.Saw a few sharks.

You need to consider this advanced diving. It is nothing like Cozumel, Bonaire, or the Cayman Islands.

This is different diving so just be prepared. A full 3 mm suit will help just in case you get slammed up against some of the volvanic rock. There is no coral. The jungle canopy and riverboat tours were great.

 

[Scuba65]

I personally can't tell you about that place...it's new and yes it' close to the town of Marbella...I've been to Marbella someone i know own's a beach house there..it's a desolate beach and it's beautiful. again Playa Azul is near there. it's a bit far of a drive from down town Guanacaste..but, it's so worth the drive. i've dove there many times and i had no problems or complaints like mentioned...and i've heard alot of people complain about the viz. i must of been lucky and caught good viz and good temps. I dive with a skin suit and i'm one to get cold easily and had no problems. I don't think there's much for you wife to do there..besides what the resort offers.....like i said it's far from all things.

 

[aymanme]

Thanks for the great info. I got the impression there was not much around the place. Would anyone whose been to that area suggest renting an auto for the week. I would prefer to vacation w/o a car but if that means being confined to a resort ... the car is a better choice.

Any suggested dive outfits? The sanctuary has one, but it has been only open for a year, so I could not find much info about it. Also, is the diving their relatively expensive. The prices were lower than Bora Bora, but still looked on the high side.

 

[mwrager]

I would get a 4 wheel drive car. Don’t get a car you will need the clearance for the roads. They are very bad in places and keep an eye on your speed. They do radar down there. Don’t know what the cost of a speeding ticket would be. When I was there we used my friends auto, they know the roads and how to drive. I did love driving down there, they have stop signs but I never seen any one stopping at them but me.

I paid $60 for 2 tanks, but I have my own equipment. After seeing some of the equipment that some of the shops had I was very happy that I had my own.

I did like the dive places I went with they always sent down 2 DM with everyone. One DM in front and one DM in the end.

I did my diving at Flamingo Bay and Ocotal. I was told that the sea was rougher when you go South of Flamingo Bay